New NSW Premier Kristina Keneally is a desperately needed fresh female face for a dying NSW ALP, says Tony Smith. But while she reshuffles the front bench, is her political experience too inadequate to rebuild lost trust?
December, 2009
The death of the “Great Australian Novel”?
Can a novel still truly capture the idea of an single Australian national consciousness or culture? asks Jessica Au. Perhaps it’s time we stopped trying to anoint a “Great Australian Novel” to which all authors and publishers should aspire?
Deporting criminal immigrants: it’s legal, but is it ethical?
Convicted criminal Andrew Moore lived in Australia for 30 years before the government revoked his visa, and sent him back to England. Two days later, he was dead. Is the Australian Government culpable? Skeptic Lawyer investigates.
graph pr0n 
The top 5 tech companies of the decade
A look at the market capitalisation of the top five tech companies over the past 10 years: Microsoft remained dominant from start to end, but has dipped significantly and is now under heavy threat from Google and Apple.
Baaaad news: all the liberal Liberals are sheep
Why don’t the conservatives get the hell out of the Liberal Party and go start a Conservative Party, rather than messing it up for small l liberals? Why are the liberals so gutless? asks lifelong Lib Robert Dean.
Detainee 063: Follow a Guantanamo interrogation in real-time
Detainee 063 is the shocking, real interrogation log of Guantanamo Bay prisoner Mohammed al-Qahtani. The entries are being blogged and tweeted in real-time, seven years after they took place.
VIDEO: An animated journey through 800,000 years of climate data
The BBC’s environment reporter Richard Black narrates an animated journey through 800,000 years of global climate history. In case you missed the news: it’s getting hotter.
The battle for online classifieds cash
Web giants eBay and Craigslist are to square off in court over eBay’s attempts to gain more control on Craiglist’s board, one of its major competitors in online classifieds. What would happen to eBay if Craiglist charged for ads?
Colebatch: Hold off on Henry before we stuff it up
The Henry tax review is about to deliver its critical recommendations to the government. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity for tax reform, and should be delayed if we’ve got Tony “great big tax” Abbott as Opposition leader, says Tim Colebatch.
The climate sceptic’s guide to Copenhagen
An A-Z guide to the Copenhagen summit and climate debate for those who think the whole thing is just a bunch of hot air. “A is for anthropogenic: a $10 word for ‘man-made’ which global-warmists wield as proof of expertise…”
Politico elected to the Pulitzer board
The Executive Editor of political commentary site Politico, Jim VandeHei, has been elected to the Pulitzer Prize board — the organisation’s first representative from the world of online news.
Climate guru: Only civil disobedience can save the planet
The planet is on the verge of disaster, and we simply can’t rely on politicians to save it, warns leading climate scientist James Hansen. There is no room for compromise; our best hope is to take this battle to the streets.
Grattan: Sour grapes Malcolm trash talks his new leader
It’s nearly an election year and recently deposed Liberal leader Malcolm Turnbull is on the warpath against Tony Abbott over climate change. Can Turnbull convince other members to cross the floor and vote for the ETS? asks Michelle Grattan.
Who’s sitting on Abbott’s new front bench?
Tony Abbott is set to announce his new shadow cabinet today, with conservatives Bronwyn Bishop, Sophie Mirabella and Barnaby Joyce in, and moderates like Sharman Stone out. Who else made the cut?
The decline of human rights in the Age of Obama
Barack Obama has had to make some tough calls since taking office, but has too often put the principles of democratic values aside, says James Rubin.
Libs finally on the right path to salvation
The Liberals dodged a bullet with the ETS, because they would have been stuck criticising a policy they helped create, writes The Oz. There is broad discontent amongst the electorate about the ETS and the Libs need to start milking that.
UN: Tony Abbott will motivate climate sceptics
The chair of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says the recent success of climate sceptic Tony Abbott will help fuel other naysayers, comparing him to George W. Bush.
US officially declares C02 a dangerous pollutant
To mark the beginning of Copenhagen, America’s Environmental Protection Agency has officially declared carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions as a danger to public health.
Copenhagen
begins
And so is has begun: one of the defining events in global politics for the 21st century. Is the planet doomed?
Follow Crikey’s rolling coverage on our Copenhagen page, first-hand accounts and analysis at our Rooted blog, plus Clive Hamilton and Matthew Knott behind-the-scenes in the Daily Mail.
Fascist, socialist and German: a history of US health care reform
US health care is not some newfangled plan, but rather a highly debated 100 year old issue which governments have slickly linked to political ideologies. The New Yorker puts together a brief — and depressing — health reform history.
Copenhagen will create 41,000 tonnes of C02
15,000 delegates and officials, 5000 journalists, 98 world leaders, 1200 limos and 140 private jets: the Copenhagen climate summit is going to leave one hell of a carbon footprint.
VIDEO: Colbert on Copenhagen and Climategate
Can the United Nations do what it has never done before and actually accomplish something? Stephen Colbert asks all important questions abut climate change, Copenhagen and the Climategate emails.
leaked A grand history of White House gatecrashers
Last week, a pair of DC socialites managed to gatecrash a White House state dinner. But according to leaked documents, the Secret Service has a long history of security breaches, with many previously unknown cock-ups revealed.
POLL: More voters agree with Abbott than Rudd on climate change
The latest Essential Report comes in with a steady two party preferred of 58-42 but the real surprise comes in the additional questions: 27% of voters agree with Tony Abott’s stance on the ETS — compared with 24% for Rudd and the ALP. Possum Comitatus has all the figures.
The Sydney Morning Herald / Tuesday, 8 December 2009
Political commentators like Robert Manne, Malcolm Mackerras and Judith Brett all predicted doom and gloom for the Libs in the weekend’s by-elections, gloats Gerard Henderson. Boy are their faces red now.